Trump White House Scorns Palestinian Leaders for Crying to Europe
Thursday, January 25, 2018 | Ryan Jones ISRAEL TODAY
The Trump White House was none too impressed by the Palestinian leadership's temper tantrum following the president's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
And the Americans were downright scornful after the Palestinians then went crying to Europe and attempted to eject Trump from the Middle East peace process.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was in Brussels this week in a bid to convince the European Union to supplant the United States as the primary third-party broker in the peace process.
Abbas has insisted that following Trump's Jerusalem declaration, the Palestinians will no longer accept American leadership in seeking a resolution to the conflict.
But the Europeans poured cold water on Abbas' ambitions.
While the EU did sympathize with Palestinian anger over Trump acknowledging Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, they nevertheless stated that no final status agreement could possibly be reached without American involvement.
"No effort will ever bring the two sides to the table if the international multilateral framework does not include the United States," said EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
A day later, a White House official who spoke to reporters about the issue could hardly conceal his disdain for the Palestinian leadership's behavior.
The official noted that the European nations' own frustration with Trump's position notwithstanding, "they all want to work with the US, despite the Palestinian reaction."
As for that fresh hostility for America emanating from Ramallah, the official added that "frankly, I don't believe the Palestinians believe the US can be replaced in this process."
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